The Westwood in Garwood gives back by sponsoring wedding, charity events

GARWOOD — To celebrate more than 50 years in business at the same location, the owners of The Westwood wanted to give back to the community.

What they originally wanted to do was donate just one event, like a wedding or fund-raising dinner, hosted at the banquet hall on North Avenue to a deserving individual or organization.

But The Westwood couldn’t stop at just one, so owners Cindy Cindy Scalzadonna Williams and the Scalzadonna family helped sponsor a wedding, a charity dinner and a luncheon for veterans, just to name a few events.

When it turned 50 back in 2012, the Westwood held a write-in contest to win an event hosted at the venue, and a number of letters came in describing true-life stories worthy of winning the prize.

“We were only going to give one event away, but so many stories were so compelling that we ended up doing more,” said Cathy Jones, director of catering for The Westwood.

A wedding attended by about 170 guests held at The Westwood last Saturday, June 14, was donated to a bride named Jillian and her groom Dale. The couple currently live in Colonia.

“Jillian wrote a very compelling letter to us,” Jones about the bride, who has suffered in her life from a serious illness. “She never thought she would have the wedding of her dreams, so we gave her the wedding of her dreams.”

“The wedding was beautiful. She looked beautiful. It was really amazing.”

Another letter that got a lot of attention came from the nonprofit StreetLight Mission. The organization based in Elizabeth runs a faith-based community outreach center in the inner city serving people struggling with poverty, mental illness, substance abuse and hopelessness.

“We helped them with a fundraiser,” Jones said, referring to the charity dinner held at the Westwood on Thursday, June 12. “They had more than 200 people come to support their cause. It was a really nice dinner.”

One of the first events The Westwood helped sponsor following the 50th anniversary was luncheon for the Disabled American Veterans Department of New Jersey held in April 2013.

“That was really a heartfelt event. It made us all feel good," Jones said, "The owners here really do give back."